U.S. Sees ‘Some Commitment’ to Climate-Change Financing

A United Nations summit on climate change scheduled for next month is likely to yield a financial commitment by rich countries to help poor countries fight the effects of warmer temperatures, President Barack Obama‘s top adviser on energy and climate change said Tuesday.

The official, Carol Browner, stopped short of saying how much the U.S. would commit to offering to help developing countries adapt to and mitigate rising greenhouse-gas emissions. Nevertheless, she said next month’s summit in Copenhagen is “an important step” toward forging a global treaty to cap countries’ emissions of heat-trapping gases. She added the Obama administration hopes to forge such a deal within six to 12 months.

“There will be some commitment to some kind of financing” for developing countries, Browner told an audience at The Wall Street Journal CEO Council in Washington, D.C.

Browner did not specify how much she thought the U.S. government would contribute, and suggested it would be difficult for the administration to commit to specific amounts because the U.S. Congress has yet to pass legislation that would raise such funds, by requiring companies to pay the government for the right to emit greenhouse gases.

“We don’t want to go to Copenhagen and prejudge issues that are part of the domestic debate,” she added.

The issue of how much rich countries should spend to help less developed countries respond to climate change is one of the most divisive in talks aimed at forging a global treaty to limit man-made greenhouse gas emissions. China has proposed that developed nations contribute 1% of gross domestic product. That translates to more than $140 billion for the U.S. alone. The Obama administration has dismissed the Chinese proposal as “untethered from reality.”

Browner signaled in her remarks that the Obama administration is open to compromise with Republicans and conservative Democrats on some aspects of climate legislation. She said she thought it “highly likely” that whatever climate legislation emerges from Congress will include measures to expand domestic drilling for petroleum, though she didn’t specify areas of the U.S. where the administration would support greater drilling.

Similarly, when asked whether the administration would continue to oppose the use of carbon tariffs or other duties on countries that don’t limit their emissions, Browner said the administration expects a final climate bill to include measures to ensure “fair competition” between U.S. companies and their overseas rivals.

Earlier this year, Obama expressed reservations to reporters about a tariff provision in climate legislation approved by the House in June. That bill would levy tariffs starting in 2020 on a range of products from countries that haven’t adopted similar programs to control greenhouse-gas emissions. Since Obama’s remarks, a number of Senate Democrats who represent states dependent on manufacturing jobs have threatened to withhold support for a climate bill unless it includes a “border adjustment” or other mechanisms to protect U.S. businesses.

In her remarks Tuesday, Browner said the administration objected to the provision in the House because it “didn’t leave any discretion for the president” in determining when to impose tariffs.

“We think the president should retain jurisdiction over making such decisions,” she added.